July Best of the Month

Congratulations to Trent Shadid, who was selected Best Overall for July. Trent was
once Travis Haneys best OU source. Thats right, the journalist who two months into
his first full-time position has become a leader in the sports department, was a
student at the University of Oklahoma when we hired Travis. Credit Travis with
identifying Trent as someone who knew what was going on, and then introducing
him to me as someone who would like a career in journalism.
At that point in late 2011/early 2012, Trent had never written a story. But he
shadowed Travis at a couple high school football games and then did some stringing
for us. On Travis recommendation and from what we saw from those stories, we
hired Trent as a part-timer in 2012. He spent the next year writing, editing,
paginating and doing anything and everything The Oklahoman Sports needed to get
the job done.
When Hayley McGhee announced her resignation early this summer, there was no
doubt who would replace her. And this summer, with the sports desk a designer
down due to the vacancy created by Phillip Baezas departure, Trent has stepped in
to lead. Working closely with designer Rob Backus and Assistant Sports Editor Scott
Munn, Trent has kept the desk going and spirits high.
He does so with his hard work, great news judgment and a leadership style
grounded in treating others as they would like to be treated.
For these reasons and many others, Sports Editor Mike Sherman nominated Trent for
Best Overall and Employee of the Month recognition as someone who has shown
continuous improvement.

Best Beat or Breaking News Story

From: Robby Trammell
Nominee: Chris Casteel
Play Fort Sill gains jobs amid cuts; Announced restricting will mean new air
defense, field artillery battalions at Oklahoma Army post.
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F10&id=Ar00102&sk=EFE73FEC

Best Business Story or Business Feature

From: Don Mecoy
Nominee: Adam Wilmoth
Adam covered a lengthy night meeting of the Stillwater City Council to be first to
report on the city's new rules for local oil and gas drilling. Despite the length of the
meeting, and the challenges of finding dependable wifi, Adam managed to get
voices from both sides commenting on the new rules. Remember, the Legislature

this year said municipalities cannot ban drilling in city limits, in part because of
Stillwater's consideration of such rules. This was breaking state news on a topic of
statewide interest.
http://newsok.com/article/5435037

Best Sports Story

From: Mike Sherman

Nominee: Jason Kersey
The savior of the Oklahoma football program's offensive reputation and identity
grew up in a West Texas town called Muleshoe as the smart kid in the back of class
who knew a better and easier way to solve the problem than his math teacher. We
know this, and a lot of other important and interesting things, about Lincoln Riley
because Jason Kersey -- and photographer/videographer Bryan Terry -- took us to
Muleshoe with compelling reporting, extensive interviews and stories and photos
presented so well digitally and in print. This is what a sports profile should be -what any profile should be -- and I hope you will give it consideration for the highest
honor available in Best of the Month this week. Both Jason and Bryan are deserving
of recognition for this story.
http://newsok.com/article/5433216
http://newsok.com/article/5432489
Notes: A great example of promoting your work, Jason shares the story behind the
story a few days before its Sunday release.

Best Feature Story

From: Jaclyn Cosgrove/Phillip OConnor
Nominee: Silas Allen
This is the Catfish story. It involved a lot of moving parts, and Silas did a good job
of writing in an engaging and interesting way. The lede does a nice job of pulling
you in, and then the story itself is a very interesting read. Also, Silas did a good job
of not sensationalizing the story. We don't know what Ashley Pietrowicz's story is
(and it's probably very sad), but Silas did a good job of respectfully reporting from
all angles, and I appreciated that.
http://newsok.com/article/5436774
From: Mike Sherman
Nominee: Jenni Carlson
The start of a series a story that allowed us to live out our Purpose Statement while
entertaining readers, this column on a mother who wanted to send her daughter to
Kevin Durant's camp began our workings to send her and other children who may
not have been able to go. We used our connections and sponsorships to make it
happen in an example of teamwork and making this a better place to live work and
raise a family. At the center of it was Jenni's ability to tell a compelling story, again.
http://newsok.com/article/5434163

Best Specialty Feature

From: Matt Price
Nominee: Brandy McDonnell
Tulsa artist Matthew Bearden takes on the American Indian mascot issue with
painted helmet series.

The story was shared more than 300 times on Facebook. Michelle Gray -- Awesome!
Sharing!!! Leah Hale Mansfield -- Great article & art, Matt!
http://newsok.com/article/5436275

Best Project/Enterprise/In-Depth
From: Robby Trammell
Nominee(s): Chris Casteel/Rick Green/Juliana Keeping/Randy Ellis/Adam
Kemp/Bryan Terry)
Presidential Visit
Play Obamas Oklahoma trip will mark presidential milestone; After meeting with
Choctaws, he plans to visit federal prison a first for a sitting president (Casteel)
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F11&id=Ar00101&sk=20DCA40E
Play/Centerpiece An opportunity to make a difference; In historic visit, President
Obama brings criminal justice reform message to El Reno prison (Green/Keeping)
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F17&id=Ar00104&sk=777F14AD
Page 1 "In El Reno, opinions about Obamas visit vary around town" (Keeping)
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F17&id=Ar00101&sk=4745D5E7
Page 1 Presidents visit to Oklahoma prompts praise and protests (Green/Kemp)
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F16&id=Ar00101&sk=B05875FC
Play/Centerpiece: In Durant, Obama promotes internet access for the poor (Ellis)
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F16&id=Ar00100&sk=444D2544
Also, this photo by Bryan Terry:

Best Watchdog Story

From: Robby Trammell
Play/Centerpiece I 100% welcome the death penalty; in letter from prison,
murder defendant writes about deaths of family members
http://archive.newsok.com/olive/apa/oklahoman/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DOK
%2F2015%2F07%2F12&id=Ar00111&sk=C0811DDD

Best Column/Opinion/First-Person Story

From: Matt Price

Nominee: Ken Raymond
Ken wrote a column about the death of his loud, at-times uncouth cousin Allan, and
how it had affected him and what he learned from that. Reader response was great,
via email and social media.
http://newsok.com/article/5434655

Best Photo
From: Doug Hoke
Nominee: Paul Hellstern
Oklahoma City Fire Dept. crews perform CPR on a crane operator about 100 feet up
the crane at 800 Stanton L. Young Blvd. in Oklahoma City, OK, Monday, July 20,
2015, Photo by Paul Hellstern. The Oklahoman

Best Headline
From: Chris Schoelen
Nominee: Todd Pendleton
METER MADE

Best Design
From: Mike Sherman
Nominee: Rob Backus

Best Video
From: Doug Hoke/Mike Sherman
Nominee: Bryan Terry
OU's new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. Bryan's video is as good as anything
you might see on
ESPN or Sports Illustrated. The editing is superb and the shot selection really gives
the viewers a feeling
of where he came from.
http://newsok.com/article/5433216

Special Effort to Improve Accuracy

From: Tom Maupin
Nominee: Tom Maupin
Below are three-headline related mistakes that were caught in July:
1: History was wrong. Slotting a July 8 business story, Tom saw this headline:
Carnival plans to launch
cruise industry's first trips from Miami to Cuba during May. That was wrong because
the story reported
Carnival said it would become the first U.S. cruise company to visit Cuba since the
1960 trade embargo.
Plus, the story also said a Canadian company had offered cruises to Cuba since
2013. Tom changed the

headline to: Carnival plans U.S. cruise industrys first trips from Florida to Cuba
since 1960.
2: Math mistake. A submitted headline for a July 15 business story was: LSB
increases projected costs of
new Arkansas ammonia plant by $40M. But this was the graph that explained the
money differences:
Oklahoma City-based LSB Industries Inc. now estimates the expansion of its El
Dorado, Ark., chemical
plant will cost $560 million to $575 million, up from the previous estimate of $495
million to $520
million. The rimmer compared the wrong numbers. Tom changed the headline to:
LSB projects costs of
its new plant in Arkansas will be $560M to $575M.
3: Headline could have been misunderstood. The submitted headline for the
July 23 Business Q&A
read: Disabled OKC architect pushed to incorporate ADA into projects. Tom was slot
and thought, Was
the guy in a wheelchair and being pushed? Or did someone push as in force the
man to do that?
Tom changed the headline to: Disabled OKC architect worked to incorporate ADA
into projects.
Here's a multimedia problem Tom caught: Web summary was wrong. A
submitted web summary for a
July 8 story read: Five Republicans are candidates for the vacant Oklahoma City
House District 85 seat.
While five people are seeking the House seat, one was a Democrat. Tom was slot
editor and rewrote the
summary.

Special Recognition
From: Don Mecoy
Nominee: Paula Burkes
ADA package
Paula produced a comprehensive look at the anniversary of the Americans with
Disabilities Act. While the centerpiece of the package was a two-page presentation
beginning on the cover of the Sunday paper, her work spanned more than a week in
the newspaper, and beyond that online. She used a variety of platforms including
numerous Q&As, blog posts and email correspondence with sources and readers to
report.
A listing of her published work on the ADA 25th anniversary:
Jy19ExecQ&A-Cordova: Feature on Joe Cordova, whos blind and runs the state
DRS.
Jy20Mind Your Own Business: Blog on respecting our states largest minority
group (the disabled).
Jy22Trade: Print version of the blog.

Jy23DailyQ&A-ADAarch: On access/building requirements by an FSB architect

whos disabled himself.
Jy24DailyQ&A-ADAanimals: On guide dogs, with Phillips Murrah attorney.
Jy26ExecQ&A-Lex Frieden: Alva native/Houston prof considered chief architect of
ADA. w/video.
Jy26ADAmain: Addresses how employment opportunities for the disabled still fall
considerably short,
with feedback from observers and facts from DRS release.
Jy26ADAVignettes: 5 faces of the ADA, including Pam Henry (last poster child),
UCO prof, Public
Strategies CFO who had cancer, African American disability advocate, chief admin
at ONG. Studio video
of Pam.
Jy26ADAintern: On the ijobs internship program. has video Jy26ADAincent -- On
OU-based outreach
project that details incentives for disabled Oklahomans who go back to work.
Jy29Trade: Lets right our restrooms.
http://newsok.com/article/5436202
Americans with Disabilities Act falls short in employment opportunities, observers
say
http://newsok.com/article/5436202
Faces of ADA
http://newsok.com/article/5436124
Executive Q&A: Alva native says research, timing, led him to design nation's historic
disability policy
http://newsok.com/article/5435218
Let's respect the civil rights of our nation's largest minority
http://newsok.com/article/5434604
Executive Q&A: No obstacle too high for lifelong disability advocate now helping
others in Oklahoma.